Tokyo Day 5 (Ghibli Museum!)

Ghibli, so far as I can tell, is more or less the Japanese Disney, without the theme parks. Meaning, it is a beloved animation studio, and creator of many famous characters and stories. Syl got really in to one of them, “My Neighbor, Totoro,” via her cousins when she was younger. So this afternoon we visited the Ghibli Museum.

I have an admission. A friend who visited Tokyo last year with her family (and whose advice to date has been unimpeachable) advised me to skip this as a waste of time and money that her kids considered a blown day. I tried to talk Melissa out of it, to the point where she had to express her disinclination to follow my advice in rather strong terms. I’m glad she won that argument. Syl, who is really in to Japanese animation, LOVED this place. And I have to admit I found it charming too. 

There is a strict no-cameras policy in the museum, which I violated immediately but infrequently.

A lot of the place is given over to decidedly low-tech explanations of the animation process. Syl ate them up, despite the lack of English translation.

This guy is a true IronMan.

Just look at this kid’s face.

The requisite daily cute cousins photo on the way home from the museum...

And I just like this shot I quick-snapped of Melissa in the Metro.

Despite having the world’s winningest personality (4 year old category), May was dragging by the end of the day’s adventures, so we split off for dinner. Syl, Melissa and I found this hole-in-the-wall Ramen place (there is no other kind in Tokyo!) that serves vegetarian ramen.

Like most everything else, Ramen pairs well with beer.

Five days in, and this kid is a chopsticks NINJA!!

Speaking of Ramen, tomorrow we are off to Yokohama, possibly to visit the Cup o’ Noodles Museum. Yes, there is a Cup o’ Noodles Museum. If the weather hangs in for us, we may skip it and do some more outdoorsy stuff. We’ll see, Our time in Tokyo is dwindling!